 "Photo: uwgsports.com")
The University of West Georgia football team played their Blue-White Spring Game for the first time in the University Stadium on Saturday and the defense rose to the occasion of protecting their home turf. The defense imposed their will on the offense during the entire scrimmage, forcing two fumbles, grabbing two interceptions and scoring a safety.
UWG head coach Daryl Dickey was pleased with the way his defense played.
“The defense is normally ahead of the offense this time of year, they’ve seen every play our offense has multiple times this spring,” said Dickey. “They played very well in spurts today and forced some turnovers, so I saw a lot of positive things from them.”
UWG junior linebacker John Weatherford was also excited about the defense’s performance.
“Our defense played well today,” Weatherford said. “Everybody was excited to get out here and compete. We hustled to the ball, made some big plays and won the turnover battle.”
Though the offense struggled to get in rhythm, two big plays stood above the rest. UWG senior running back Yusuf Holloway provided the offense with its longest play from scrimmage, busting a 29-yard run while eluding several defenders. The offense failed to get the passing game going, but freshman quarterback Ed Russ managed to connect with sophomore Kevin Myles for a 27-yard touchdown pass midway through the scrimmage.
Dickey was not as pleased with the overall execution of the offense, noting that they didn’t play with a sense of urgency and lacked tempo in and out of the huddle.
“Our offense came out here in this stadium, in front of all these fans and family and forgot plays, individual assignments, and had too many alignment penalties,” Dickey said.
Despite the offensive struggles, Dickey pointed out that the spring game is just a measuring stick, and that the real preparation for the season starts now with strength and conditioning.
“We need to get bigger, faster, and stronger,” said Dickey. “We made it through the game without any injuries, but I don’t know if we hit hard enough today to hurt anybody. The real work starts in the weight room and our guys have a lot of work to do to get ready for August.”
Weatherford was on the same page.
“The biggest area we can improve on is getting stronger in the weight-room,” Weatherford said. “We are playing hard and with a lot of enthusiasm, but to compete in this conference we have to improve our team strength.”
Holloway also noticed the team’s need to improve in conditioning, but feels a lot better about the overall team chemistry this year as compared to last.
“We got tired out there today, but guys are working hard to get into game shape,” said Holloway. “We have come together to work as a team instead of individuals. We did a lot of that last year, but I think we’re becoming a team now.”
This will be the Wolves’ third year under the direction of Coach Dickey, and he acknowledged the importance of being more competitive in the Gulf South Conference.
“We have to be competitive and it starts by earning respect in our conference,” said Dickey. “We play in a tough conference with a lot of really good football players and really well-coached teams. We closed the gap some last year and we need to continue to close the gap this season.”
The challenge of closing the gap in the Gulf South Conference is one that Weatherford said this team is excited about taking on.
“My class is 1-19 and we are hungry for some wins,” said Weatherford. “I think we are going to be real competitive and teams are going to be surprised about the season we are going to have this year.”
The Wolves will begin their quest for a winning season on Saturday, August 28, when they open the season at home against Wingate in University Stadium at 7 p.m.
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